RELIGIOUS STUDIES A LEVEL
EXAM BOARD:WJEC EDUQAS
exemplar essays for Divine Command Theory
Explain the view that God is the origin and regulator of morality (20)
Divine Command Theory, also known as Theological Voluntarism, is a normative approach to
ethics which proposes the idea that God has established eternal and objective principles of
morality. Essentially, the “one rule” is to follow God’s rules that were revealed to humanity
through holy books and prophets. For example, in the Decalogue (10 commandments) it says
“Do not kill”, and therefore, it is immoral. Divine Command Theory (DCT) is deontological (duty
based) and absolutist, meaning that there is a standard of right and wrong which exists. This
essay will explain the view that God is the origin and regulator of morality, including references
from Paul Copan and JAT Robinson.
The view that God is the origin and regulator of morality can be supported by Augustine of
Hippo, who believed that pursuing ethics leads to supreme happiness. In order to achieve this,
we should love and respect God by following his commands, ultimately ending in morality. For
example, divine love would be the most important compared to love for family and so we would
follow rules from holy books, like the Bible, to express this love for God. The Bible states how
important charity is and, therefore, it is a good action and expression of love. Following these
rules leads to the agent receiving an eschatological reward in the afterlife.
JAT Robinson also supports the concept of God as the origin and regulator of morality in his
book “Honest to God”, where he states that the commands are “eternally valid for human
conduct”. This indicates that actions can be divided into right and wrong, reinforcing the fact
that DCT is deontological. JAT Robinson then stated that rights cannot become wrongs, or vice
versa. For example, stealing is wrong as the 10 commandments say, “do not steal”. Even if the
person is in poverty, it is still morally wrong as the rules of DCT are absolute and do not change
overtime.
Furthermore, Paul Copan believes that God is the origin and regulator of morality as he argues
that we are God’s “image bearers”. This illustrates that man is made in God’s image and so we
naturally adopt his sense of morality. This means that DCT is not a case of following commands
but instead we have natural inclinations towards goodness from our God-given conscience,
automatically guiding us. This can be seen in real life, for example, the rule “do not kill” is
established within our conscience and is a belief held in many countries and cultures, implying
that everyone trust their instinctive values. Therefore, God is the origin and regulator of
morality.
Explain the challenges to the divine command theory (20)
